Bottle carrier



Sept. 21, 1954 A. EBERHARD 2,689,761 BOTTLE CARRIER Filed June 11, 1952INVENTOR Azors EBZFHAFD BY: M g W Patented Sept. 21, 1954 UNITED PATENTOFFICE 2,689,761 BOTTLE CARRIER iilois Eberhard, Evansville, lndassignor of onehalf to Jack A. Stone, Evansville, Ind.

striated. an "11, 1952, Serial No. 292,859

.6 Claims.

1 The present inventionrelates to bottlecarriers and particularly to acarrier for use withan individual bottle. y V The primary object of myinyentionis to provide a bottle carrier comprising a bail from which issupported a bottleneck-engaging portion, such carrier being soconstructed as to be readily and positively securable to a bottle. y e

A further object of the invention is provide such a carrier which whilehaving the desired operational characteristics, will be constructed of aminimum number 'of parts and in such a manner as to render itsmanufacture simple and inexpensive.

Further objects will become apparent as the description proceeds. I, l r

To the accomplishment of the above and re lated objects, my inventionmf'y be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made the specificconstructions illustrated. and described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

Fig. l is a perspective View showing a preferred embodiment of myinvention in an intermediate state in its maufactu're;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the completed carrier showing the mannerin which it is intended to be associated with a bottle; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to that of Fig. 2 but showing amodified form of my invention.

Referring moreparticularly to the drawings, it will be seen that mycarrier |'0 co inpris"es basically a bottle-neck-engaging ring ll s upported from a bail l2. Means I3 is provided whereby ring H can bereadily afiiired to and removed from the bottleneck .14.,

Carrier H3 .is formed of two strands of wire 15 and i6 laid side by sideand; asshown in Fig. 1, twisted together longitudinally throughout .apart only of their lengths, Thistwistingi's none preferably from a point1 fl slightly r'emovedrfrom an end of the pair of Wires to a point i 8relatively farther removed from the other end of said wire pair.Alternatively, the wires [5 and It could be twisted together at spacedintervals between points I? and I8 or merely at the points [1 and I8themselves. As said, however, I presently prefer to twist the Wiresthroughout their lengths continuously from point I! to point IS.

The ends of wires I5 and I6 nearest point 18 are turned oppositely outof the line common to the wires and back again into such line to form apair of substantially semicircular portions 20 and 2! which togetherconstitute the resilient, open, neck-engaging ring H. The free endsZZand 23 are then turned substantially radially outwardly and preferablycurled back on themselves to form blunted ends or finger pieces 24 and25. I v

The opposite ends of wires [5 and l 6 (the ends nearest point H) areeach turned outwardly and back on themselves to form books 26. and 27.Together the ends22 and 23, and the hooks 25 and '21 constitute themeans l3, as will later be-- come apparent.

Strands I5 and [6 are together bent out of the plane of ring ll,substantially about their juncture with said ring at point [8, toformbail I2 spanning said ring and with the hooks 26 and 21 injuxtaposition with the ends 22 and 23. Bail I2 is so positioned that theplane of said bail substantially coincides with the median plane of ringII. For the purpose of this specification, the median plane of saidring? refers to that plane perpendicular to theplane of ring II andincluding the point 88, the center of said rin and the point midwaybetween the ends 22 and 23. H

While bail l2 may be shaped in anyform most convenient for the purposefor which the carrier is intended, I presently prefer to form the bailwithupstanding side portions 28 and 2e, and a horizontal or handleportion 30. e

In attaching carrier I0 to a bottle neck, the ring H, being open betweenthe ends 22 and 23, may be spread to receive neck [4. Most bottles areformed with a bead I d surrounding the open-,- ing therein, and the ringll isplaced about the neck immediately below this bead. The end 22 isthen engaged in the hook 25 andthe end 23 is engaged in the hook 21,thereby locking ring I I about neck [4. Because of the naturalresiliency of strands l5 and [6, upon disengagement of the ends 22 and23 from hooks 26ar1d 21, the ends will spring out, thereby greatlyfacilitating the removal of the carrier from the brittle;

In Fig. 3 I have shown a-modified form of my invention. Instead oftwisting the strands l5 and is between points I! and IS, the wires maysimply be laid side by side and fixed together between points I! and 18as by welding at spaced intervals, or by dipping the entire carrier intoa bath of molten solder While holding the two halves 3i and 32 in matingrelationship. Such a construction would enable the complete fabricationof the two halves 3! and 32 prior to joining them together to form thecompleted carrier.

While I have specifically illustrated and de scribed my invention as abottle carrier, it will be obvious that it is as equally adaptable anduseful for carrying any type of container having an annular flangesurrounding the opening therein, such a a fruit jar, flower pot, or thelike, and it is not intended that the device claimed should berestricted to a use only as a bottle carrier.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bottle carrier comprising a resilient, open ring, and a baildisposed in the median plane of said ring with one end thereof fixed tosaid rin and the other end thereof disposed adjacent the opening in saidring, the ends of said open ring being bent substantially radiallyoutwardly, and

the last of said end of said bail being formed with a pair of hooks inwhich said ring ends are engageable to lock said ring about the neck ofa bottle, said hooks being open for ready insertion of said ring ends bymovement of said ring ends in a direction substantially parallel withthe axis of said ring. 7

2. A bottle carrier comprising a resilient, open ring and a bailsupporting said ring in a plane substantially perpendicular to the planeof said bail, said carrier being formed of two strands of wire securedtogether throughout a part only of their lengths, one end of each strandbeing bent out of the line common to said strands to form a semi-circle,such semi-circular portions of said strands constituting said resilientring, the re maining portions of .said strands being bent out of theplane of said ring substantially about their juncture with said ring toform said bail with the free ends of said strands in juxtaposition withthe open ends of said ring, the extremity of each such free end beingformed to provide an open hook for the ready reception of the extremityof the first-named end of one of said plane thereof, and means forreleasably fixing the open ends of said ring to an endof said ballwhereby said ring can be locked about the neck of a bottle, said carrierbeing formed of a pair of wire strands longitudinally twisted togetherfrom a point slightly removed from one end of said pair to a pointrelatively farther removed from the other end of said pair, the lastsaid ends of said pair being bent oppositely out of a common line andback substantially into said common line to form said resilient ringwith the open ends thereof being turned substantially radiallyoutwardly, the opposite ends of said strands each being bent to form ahook, and the twisted portion of said strand pair being bent out of theplane of said ring substantially about the juncture of said strands andsaid ring to form said bail with said hooked ends thereof injuxtaposition with said ring ends, said ring ends being engageable withsaid hooks ends whereby said ring can be locked about the neck of abottle, said hooks being open for ready insertion of said ring ends bymovement of said ring ends in a direction substantially parallel withthe axis of said ring.

5. A bottle carrier comprising a resilient, open ring, a bail supportedon said ring in the median plane thereof, and means for releasablyfixing the open ends of said ring to an end of said bail whereby saidring can be locked about the neck of a bottle, said carrier being formedof a pair of wires laid side by side and welded together from a pointslightly removed from one end of said pair to a point relatively fartherremoved from the other end of said pair, the last said ends of said pairbeing bent oppositely out of a common line and back substantially intosaid common line to form said resilient ring with the open ends thereofbeing turned substantially radially outwardly, the opposite ends of saidstrands each being bent to form a hook, and the welded portion of saidstrand pair being bent out of the plane of said ring substantially aboutthe juncture of said strands and said ring to form said bail with saidhooked ends thereof in juxtaposition withsaid ring ends, said ring endsbeing engageable with said hooked ends whereby said ring can be lockedabout the neck of a bottle, said hooks being open for ready insertion ofsaid ring ends by movement of said ring ends in a directionsubstantially parallel with the axis of said ring.

6. A carrier for use with a container having an annular flangesurrounding the opening therein, such carrier comprising a resilient,open ring and a bail supporting said ring in a plane substantiallyperpendicular to the plane of said bail, said carrier being'formed oftwo strands of wire secured together throughout a part only of theirlengths, one end of each strand being bent out of the line common tosaid strands to form a semi-circle, such semi-circular portions of saidstrands constituting said resilient ring, the remaining portions of saidstrands being bent out of the plane of said ring substantially abouttheir juncture with said ring to form said bail with the free ends ofsaid strands in juxtaposition with the open ends of said ring, said openends being bent substantially radially outwardly and said free endsbeing bent to form laterally-open hooks in which said open ring ends canbe respectively engaged to lock said ring about said container directlybeneath said annular flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

